


everything starts with us

by zombiesolace



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends, F/F, First Time, Friends With Benefits, Fucking It Out, Porn With Plot, Pre-Canon, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:47:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24270805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiesolace/pseuds/zombiesolace
Summary: “I like the atmosphere here.”Dan opens her eyes slowly and takes in Renee’s easy, open face.“I like knowing everyone is… like me.”They’re in a gay bar. She’d known about Renee, sensed it, but this sharing means something.“Like you,” Dan repeats. She reaches for the orange stripe in Renee’s hair.----oh noo they're rivals and roommates whatever are they going to do???
Relationships: Renee Walker/Danielle "Dan" Wilds
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	everything starts with us

**Author's Note:**

> i barely go here anymore lmao but i needed to write porn and their rivalry has been in the back of my mind ever since i read the extra content

She’s not sure if the heavy thud of the bass line is cathartic or maddening. Her mood teeters, threatening to sour and ruin the night. The day is a lost cause, hell, the whole fucking week.

A nasty doubt in Dan’s mind whispers _her captaincy too_ but that’s bullshit.

She knew going into this that being a Fox would be a trial. She knew what kind of players Coach was after. Sure she might hate every last one of them, but they have potential. With a whole lot of work they could get somewhere and _that_ was worth all the trouble in the world.

That vision of the Foxes honing their abilities all the way to the championships is an inspiration. 

One she surely needs at times like this.

“You’d look so gorgeous with a little makeup,” Allison says. Her eyelashes mesh together prettily as she blinks and the length is all false. 

Dan gestures sharply to her face. “I'm wearing a little makeup.” They’re clubbing, of course she is. 

Allison pulls a face full of surprise. “Really? I wouldn’t have thought you’d go for a subtle look.”

Dan leans in tight, her torso across the small standing table. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Allison laughs and Renee cuts in before she can start the fight she’s aiming for. “You look lovely, Dan.”

She rolls her eyes and throws back her drink. 

“Go on,” Allison says, “don't stop there. Tell us all about how hot you think Dan is.”

Renee stares at Allison with her usual unwavering gaze. Neither of them blink for far too long.

Dan stands. “I don’t particularly care what either of you think of me and I care even less about this conversation.” She wiggles her empty glass between them, breaking their eye contact. “I’ll be back.”

“Get us another round won’t you,” Allison says. 

Dan ignores her and leaves.

Now that she’s on her feet she feels the alcohol. She takes a moment, on the edge of the dance floor, to orientate herself. The pleasant buzz and slight wobble to her world is just what she was looking for after the shitshow that was today’s practise. 

She slips through the crowd, hovering near the bar, and waits to be served. Habit has her pulling her phone out and checking for messages. No one’s after her, thank fuck. Last she’d heard the second years were set on filling their dorms with various kinds of smoke. Part of her inches for the chill of weed, but she has far too much common sense to ignore good sense. Coach might not care what their vice of choice is, but that doesn’t mean drug tests are an impossibility. The last thing the Foxes need is someone kicked from the team. It could ruin everyones’ scholarship and it’s all anyone is expecting. 

A bar stool opens up to her left and before she can step into it, Renee is sitting there. Dan scowls at her to no effect - her eyes are up on the VIP section.

One guess why. “You get ditched?”

Renee smiles, pleasant as ever. “Allison ran into a friend.”

Unsurprising, this is her favourite bar in town. She’s the reason they’re here tonight and not somewhere cheaper. 

Dan throws a look over her shoulder. The VIP section hangs overlooking the room and leads onto a rooftop balcony. It’s all very fancy, the type of place the nouveau riche rub shoulders. Allison’s blonde mane shines brilliantly against the black shirt of the man she’s wrapped herself around.

Dan snorts. “That’s how I like my friends, too.” 

She finds Renee gazing out over the crowded dance floor like this conversation never happened. Her ease, the way she comfortably reclines against the bar, is infuriating. Dan looks around for the bartender. The guy is halfway down the bar, a few people from her. She needs another drink. 

“You lost us our table.”

“We’ll find another.”

The bar is full and shows no sign of turning anyone away. “Yeah right.”

“You can have my seat if you wish.”

“Maybe we should ask Allison if we can join her up there, hmm?”

Renee doesn’t reply. Doesn’t do much of anything.

“What do you reckon? Think they’d have us?” She’s invited them to VIP sections before. Sometimes she blesses just one of them and leaves the other high and dry. Dan doesn’t know what’s worse: knowing Allison is deliberately trying to start shit or the way the elite tilt their upturned noses down at her. 

“I’m sure Allison would invite us to join her if we asked.”

Why the fuck would either of them want to watch her make out with some horny dude? “If _you_ asked maybe.”

Renee cuts her eyes to Dan.

She gives a grin, unable to help herself. Renee’s been smiling ever since they met head to head on the court in high school. There’d been nothing Wolflike about her smile, but she’d hunted down every shot Dan’s team had sent her like she was built for the chase.

“Is there something you wish to talk about, Dan?”

“Nah.”

“Really?” She rubs the pads of her fingers over her knuckles. “You seem so intent on provoking me.”

Dan laughs and eases off. It’s difficult not to push Renee’s buttons. There’s years worth of bad blood between them and day in day out Dan is expected to be the better person. On court, in the Fox Tower, with the team - she needs to be the mediator. No matter how much she wants to rage at the shit the team gets up to it’s not happening. She refuses to be the reason the team fails. That doesn’t mean she won’t tease at the idea of biting back at Renee. She’s safe, the only one uninterested in biting in the first place. 

Renee watches her longer than necessary and she feels it low in her belly. She blames the alcohol.

Dan leans in close, so they don’t quite have to shout. She presses the tips of two fingers to the back of Renee’s hand, just above the stamp. It’s always there, every time they go out drinking. 

“No fake ID?”

Renee shrugs. “I don’t drink.”

That’s true. They’ve been out a dozen times now and it’s always the same. She doesn’t drink, she doesn’t dance, she doesn’t talk. “Why are you here?”

Renee shifts closer. “We need to be a united front.”

That’s the hard truth. No matter how much Dan dislikes Allison and Renee they need to hold it together. The higher ups had had no interest in having women on the team and if they fail this year then there’ll never be another woman on the Fox line-up.

“And,” Renee says, “my Captain asked me to be.”

Dan’s stomach drops.

She sways, debates staying or not. Can’t decide. She squashes into the space between Renee’s seat and the next and gestures for the bartender.

They face one another in the wait. If she leant forward her tits would press against Renee’s hard bicep. They're close enough that her breath makes the rainbow tips of Renee’s hair dance. 

Renee looks away first. 

She doesn't know what she was expecting. Dan catches the bartender’s eye. “Hennessey and cherry coke."

Renee slides a twenty onto the counter when the bartender’s back is turned. Dan slaps her hand down on top of Renee’s, catching everyone’s eye. “What are you doing?”

Renee presses her tongue against the inside of her bottom lip. “Buying your drink.”

“Why?”

Renee’s eyes shutter slightly. “Questioning everything I do must be exhausting.”

It is. “Why?”

“I want to.”

She wants to ask why again and again and again until she gets a straight answer, but her drink is here.

She’s drinking a drink bought by a Wolf, the worst of them. She closes her eyes, dizzy. She’s being bought a drink by a Fox, her teammate. 

“I like the atmosphere here.” 

Dan opens her eyes slowly and takes in Renee’s easy, open face.

“I like knowing everyone is… like me.”

They’re in a gay bar. She’d known about Renee, sensed it, but this sharing means something.

“Like you,” Dan repeats. She reaches for the orange stripe in Renee’s hair. Despite the bleaching it must have taken to get her undoubtedly dark hair bright white, her hair is soft.

“Are we alike?” she says slowly.

“I think,” Renee says, “in some ways, we’re far too alike.”

Dan drops her hair, affects an accent. “This team ain’t big enough for the both of us.”

A smile, with teeth, flashes across Renee’s face before she vanishes it. She touches lightly at Dan’s hand, her eyes dark. “Perhaps.”

Renee’s wearing a pink lip gloss that makes her mouth look shiny and wet.

“Though I do hear foxes are adaptable creatures.”

Dan swallows and slides out from between the bar seats. She raises her glass as she walks away.

* * *

No one thinks Dan should be Captain. No one other than Coach. 

No one thinks she’s cut out for it. Not the media, the team, not the school, not her family back home. She’s a poor, black girl - what would she know? How can she lead? The rightful person is out there while she wastes time warming his spot. 

No one trusts her to be Captain, not even her some days. 

* * *

She pauses, drink still raised. 

Turns slowly on one heel. 

Renee is watching her.

“Do you want to dance?”

“No.”

“Right.” She sips at her drink, attempts to recalibrate.

There’s something on Renee’s face she can’t figure out. “I can’t dance like you.”

Dan used to be an exotic dancer by profession, that’s not a surprise. She takes a breath. This is a bad idea. “Do you want to?”

Renee bites her lip, puts a neat row of teeth marks in her shiny, shiny lip gloss. “I don’t want to dance, per se.”

This - what she’s about to do now - is the real bad idea. There’s no coming back from this. She walks forward until she’s almost touching Renee. Until there is a breath between them and nothing more. She puts her drink on the bar and it has her leaning over Renee. It has Renee tilting her chin up to watch her. She touches two fingers, lightly, just above Renee’s knee.

“You want to do something equally sexy?”

Renee’s smile is an incredulous thing. “That was cute.”

Dan’s heart is jack-hammering in her throat. “So, yeah?”

Renee closes her fingers around Dan’s and nods. 

Her mind races. “On the dance floor? Or, or we can try for a stall?”

Renee pulls a face, a moment later her eyes flick up to the balcony. 

“We can’t do anything in the dorms,” Dan says. 

Renee smiles and it’s wry. “I wouldn’t want to.”

She doesn’t know what's going on between Allison and Renee. She doubts it’s much at all. Any real emotional weight to it is on Renee’s side. Allison simply wouldn’t take that kind of risk.

The secrecy of this rules out the club floor Allison is currently overlooking. “The toilets then.”

Renee considers. “Sure.”

Dan tugs at her floor length skirt. “Classy.”

Renee appears to be thinking something over. “I don’t do this often,” she says at last. “I may take it a little too seriously.”

Dan’s eyes widen slightly. “This isn’t a date, or the spark that precedes one.”

“No,” Renee says, “I don’t want it to be. I’m saying…”

Dan pulls back a step. “I only fuck around with friends for the record.” She’s no time for anything as volatile as a relationship, never has.

God, does that make them friends?

Renee hums. “Whatever we do will be notably intimate for two people who don’t necessarily like one another.”

If Dan were retelling this story to her stage sisters, this is where she’d dramatically pantomime falling to the floor. This is just supposed to be a messy make out to get rid of the sexual tension that’s built up over their longtime rivalry. She doesn’t want to be talking this much.

“We’re sharing trust here and I want to acknowledge that.” Renee touches her, cupping her elbow. “Have you changed your mind?”

All this build up is killing her mood. “How ‘bout that toilet stall?”

Renee raises her eyebrows. 

Dan grimaces. “I’ll take the wall?”

* * *

Renee takes her by the hand. It has to be the first time Dan has ever followed her lead. 

The sickly yellow overhead lights cast a gold sheen to Renee’s white hair. The toilets are far from empty and they get a litany of looks as they slip into the stall together. Despite the chaos of the club scene it’s quiet out and Renee quieter still.

Dan steps back to lean up against the door, it looks marginally cleaner than the walls. The tight space and the dark colour scheme emphasises the pressure building on her chest. It doubles that suggestive heat hanging around and licking at her skin.

Renee watches her, her body turned away. There’s less than an arms length of space between them and she looks strangely untouchable.

Dan wants to break that serious aura she wears like an invisibility cloak. She cups her tits and lifts them suggestively. 

Renee looks away, a hand covering the smile on her face.

“Come on,” Dan says, soft now, coaxing, “come here.”

She doesn’t rush over, simply moves with purpose until Dan can feel the heat from her body like she’s facing the glow of a bonfire.

Renee has about an inch on her. Her hands twitch, unsure.

Dan lets her head drop back against the door. “Scared?” she taunts lazily. She shouldn’t. Renee is a good little Christian girl, it might scare her off. Maybe it should.

Renee’s teeth flash. “I’ve done far scarier things than this.”

“Did you do them just as slowly?”

Renee grips her jaw in hand and kisses her fiercely. 

Dan immediately plasters Renee against herself, yanking her tank hard enough to stretch it. The slide of their lips is dirty and eager, as distracting as it is breath-stealing. 

It’s about fucking time.

Renee slips a hand to the back of her head and holds her in place. She should have known they’d have an issue about control. Dan just about growls and shoves her hands under Renee’s tank. Her skin is hot and slick and she wants her hands on Renee’s tits but lingers politely at her back. Well as politely as the pair of them could ever manage with one another. She teases her fingers under the waistband of Renee’s skirt, above the sweet curve of her ass, and is rewarded with a gasp. 

Dan smiles triumphantly and pulls her closer. 

She celebrates too soon. Renee leans away, barely centimetres away, gasping. The next time she sees Renee breathless on the court, she’ll be thinking of this moment. Dan ducks down and mouths roughly at the crook of Renee’s neck. Her lips catch on the chain of her necklace, the cross disappearing down between her breasts. She’s going to enjoy going fishing for it. 

“Dan,” she breathes, fingers flexing. 

“You good?” she mumbles, cutting her teeth gently into Renee’s skin.

Renee’s hips jerk forward. “ _Yes_.”

Dan bites down out of sheer satisfaction. It feels good to finally make a play that Renee is unprepared for.

“Fuck,” Renee says. 

“Yeah.” It's a little like that for her too. 

Dan skates her hands up Renee’s sides and teases her thumbs along the undersides of Renee’s breasts. Neither of them are wearing bras and thank fuck for that. Her skin is so soft and her body is so tantalisingly close that Dan does it again.

Renee gets a tight grip on Dan’s hips and noses into her hair, the noise in her throat gentle. She makes another noise when Dan kisses higher up her neck, rough now. Under her lips she can feel the excited tension thrumming through Renee and she moans in response. She’s always enjoyed eagerness. 

Renee ducks in tight and kisses her, their mouths open and sloppy. The wet press of her tongue has Dan moaning again and Renee presses her against the wall like it’ll curve for the shape of them. Like it’ll pull them in and keep them pressed tight together.

She wiggles, trying to work a thigh between Renee’s legs and gets caught on the billowing mass of Renee’s skirts.

“We should,” Renee starts, out of breath, “we should slow down. Before I get too carried away.”

She loosens her grip. “Gotta leave room for Jesus, huh?”

Renee looks almost put out and Dan grins, delighted. “I feel no need to follow that particular expectation. We shouldn’t go any further, not in a public restroom.”

“Okay,” Dan says slowly. She loops her arms around Renee’s waist and tilts her hips to comfortably lean against Renee. “Couple of questions.”

“Yes?”

“We shouldn’t have sex in public or you don’t want to have sex in public?”

Renee looks away from a fraction of a second. “We shouldn’t.”

The more time she spends with Renee the more she suspects the patron saint act is, at heart, an act. There’s this comfort she has with sex and sexuality, the time she watched Renee beat a dude over the head with a bible, and always her ever unshakeable attitude. It's the last one that really catches Dan’s attention. Sometimes the way Renee reacts in a crisis is a little too easy, like maybe she knows what the right thing to do is, but doesn’t necessarily feel it. 

Nevertheless she’s feeling this. She’s hot and deliciously flushed in Dan’s arms.

“What does further mean? Where do you imagine this going?” Dan has a dozen ideas. 

Renee keeps things simple. “We kiss and keep any other actions over our clothes.”

“Mmm.” Dan tilts her head and slides her lips along Renee’s jaw. “I said where do you _imagine_ this going. You’re worried about getting carried away. I want to know what you’re trying to avoid.”

Renee shakes a little and Dan can’t tell if it's arousal or nervous jitters.

“Well,” Renee says and then leaves it at that.

Dan pulls back and smiles gently. “You want to know what I’d like to do?”

“Yes.” and then: “Please.” like her manners are important right now. So polite and proper, even in her relief. Laying a chaste kiss on her cheek makes far too much sense in that moment. She does it, despite all trepidation. 

“Well,” she teases, “ for starters I’d like to explore under our clothes.”

There’s more, there’s so much more, but Renee turns. In a rush Dan’s mouth is dragged along Renee’s cheek, swept up in her passion, until their mouths meet once more. 

“No clothes on the floor,” Renee breathes.

Dan unclasps her halter top at the back of her neck and the fabric falls free, baring her breasts. “I dress for success.” She puts Renee’s hands on her tits to avoid any hesitation. 

Renee presses into her and the touch of her nipples against Renee’s rough palms is worth the loud noise she makes. Someone bangs on the door behind her and the vibration of it is a shock to her system. She could have sworn that no one beside her and Renee existed.

“We shouldn’t,” Renee murmurs, her head bowed, her lips gentle on Dan’s collarbone.

Dan pushes her away. “You and your morals.”

A less than pleased expression furrows Renee’s brow for a split second. “You can’t punish me for this.”

Dan blows a sharp breath out between her teeth. “You’re right, you’re right.” This is for the best anyway, what would it solve? She drags her top up from around her waist and reaches behind her.

“Let me.”

Dan pauses, mid-motion. 

“Let me,” Renee says. She takes one step forward and they’re back nearly chest to chest. 

They are supposed to be getting along. Dan spreads her hands out, palms up. Why not? 

The soft, light way Renee touches her shoulder to turn her makes Dan vividly aware that her tits are still on show. It’s not the first time Renee’s seen her naked, nudity is kind of prerequisite for locker rooms, but this is something else. Something personal and intimate and really not what Dan was signing up for. 

Renee’s shaky breath blows across the back of her neck, sending shivers down her spine. Dan passes her the ties and Renee snaps them delicately, efficiently, closed. If she’s going for sexy then she isn’t putting nearly enough attention into this. 

Dan lifts her hands to adjust her tits and Renee catches her wrists. She’s pressed up against her back and it feels so good that Dan tips her head back onto Renee’s shoulder. There’s a light touch of lips at her pulse point and then Renee lets go of her hands. 

She traces her fingertips lightly over Dan’s ribs, sliding up, up and around until she’s cupping Dan’s tits again. She sighs and it edges on a groan. Almost involuntarily she arches into the touch. Her ass rolls back into Renee’s hips and she’s stumbling forward, Renee pushing back. Dan’s arms, from hand to elbow, slap against the door and it shakes once more. “ _Fuck._ ”

Renee kisses her again, soft at her shoulder. She kneads at Dan’s breasts as affectionate and intent as a cat. It’s doing nothing to fix the way her shirt is rucked up and uneven but _fuck_ if Dan cares. 

“What happened to ‘we shouldn’t’?”

Renee sighs, soft, and Dan can picture the way her pretty lips part on the sound. “Always questioning me.”

Dan grins and grinds back against Renee. “Come on, do you want this to go anywhere or not?”

With great reluctance, Renee tugs on the bottom of Dan’s shirt and then with great ease she slides her hands down Dan’s chest from collarbone to hipbone. To fix her shirt, of course. The near absent pass over her nipples turns Dan on far too much. She groans. “I want to eat you out.”

Renee stiffens behind her and then relaxes in quick succession. “Yeah?”

Dan spins on the spot and smoothly leans up against the door frame, the picture of confidence. She hopes. “When and where, babe?”

Renee stares at her and Dan can see the goalie mask on her face even now. The blank slate of it and the narrow slit that only shows her intense gaze. 

“Fuck it,” Renee says with a sharp jerk of head, “now. Here, right now.”

Dan fist pumps with enough slow emphasis that Renee smiles at the ground. “It’s your turn against the door.”

* * *

Her knees hit the tile floor and she’ll regret that tomorrow. Right now, right now she tilts her head back and breathes. She grasps silk skirts in her fists and shoves up. And shoves and shoves and shoves, because they might be in the dirty bathroom of a shady nightclub but Renee is still dressed from head to toe.

“Sorry,” she murmurs, holding the mass of material at her waist.

Dan’s mouth goes dry at the sight of her panties. They’re yellow cotton briefs with a cute little bow on the front. She gazes up at Renee. Her rainbow hair fans about her face and beyond that the blaring halogen lights halo her like she’s been memorialised in a stained glass window.

“I can’t stand you,” Dan says and pulls down Renee’s underwear.

The curtains don’t match the drapes and she’d say as much but Renee sucks in a sharp little breath like she can’t believe this is happening and Dan dives in.

It isn’t difficult to spread Renee’s legs and part of her thinks it should be, but she’s not complaining. She grabs at the backs of Renee’s thick thighs and noses up into her curls. She breathes deeply, takes in the sweet smell, and rolls her tongue in _slow_. 

Renee jerks like she’s been hit.

“Can I— Could I put my hands in your hair?”

Dan hums a sloppy agreement, far too distracted to speak. Renee is getting wetter by the second and Dan buries herself deeper, kissing and licking as she goes. Her mouth is soft and tender from the kisses that led up to this and it’s good. It’s so good.

Renee’s fingers curl into her hair and the mass of skirts threatens to tumble.

Dan pulls back and catches the fall. Renee does too. Their hands press and overlap as they clumsily try to fold them away.

“Keep them up,” she snaps, on edge.

Renee purses her lips and says nothing. 

Dan can’t keep from scowling. The frown etched between her brows feels incongruous to the position they’re in. She’s never eaten pussy and been mad about it. She’s all too aware of the alcohol on her tongue, the tug of disorientation in her limbs, and the fact this is _Renee._ She wants this, but it’s Renee and they’re running out of time.

She looks so stiff standing there, leant up against the greasy stall door. A little lost and unsure.

“Relax,” Dan says, rougher than she means to. She strokes her hands down Renee’s thighs, touches the soft skin at the backs of her knees.

“I haven’t done this before.”

“What?”

“I haven’t been with a girl before you.”

Dan falls back on her heels. “You're choosing _me?_ ”

“Perhaps this wasn’t the best idea,” Renee says quietly. She releases her skirts and they fall like the shows over.

* * *

Dan is splashing water on her face when her phone rings. Renee glances over from where she stands, arms crossed, as close to the exit as she can get. She might have walked out the stall, but she’s acting like she wanted to do it at a run.

It’s Allison and she can get fucked.

Dan tears paper towel from the rack and pats her face dry, careful of what’s left of her makeup. She’s extra careful not to look at the smeared mess of Renee’s lips.

Allison calls Renee the moment Dan’s phone rings out.

“It’s your girlfriend,” Dan says and every woman in the room stares. Shame eats at her, a prickling wave of tension that has her hunching her shoulders. Some days she doesn’t know how to stop herself from pushing people away. For a self-defence technique it sure guarantees she gets hurt. 

Renee answers, of course she does.

She barely speaks, but that isn’t unusual. Dan joins her at the door, ready to get back into the noise of the club. She’d enjoyed the quiet before, she likes to talk when she’s fooling around. Now it grates. 

Renee’s face is as clear as lake water and just as still. “Allison’s ready to go.”

“Yeah, me fucking too.”

* * *

Allison watches them like she knows they had a fight. She drops a comment when they meet outside the club, the kind of jab that is less about the words and more about the tone, the implication. When she gets no reaction, she lets it go. 

The taxi ride home is excruciatingly quiet. 

* * *

The dorms not so much.

Every other Fox is in the hallway, screaming about something. They’re rowdy enough that the rest of the floor is peeking out their doors and watching the show.

Dan sighs. “I’m too drunk for this.”

Allison kicks into high gear and is suddenly ramming her shoulder - with perfect form - into the closest Fox. He yells and hits the wall, partially to get out of her way and mostly because she’s that good at defence. 

Renee hurries to catch up and Dan’s never going to leave them to fight alone.

“You’re done!” Allison shouts. She drives her beautiful four inch heel into the toe of the next Fox and _he_ certainly is done. 

Dan and Renee slide between the remaining boys. A stray elbow flies toward her face as the tusseling starts and Renee blocks it easily, twisting the arm up and back sharply. It’s a practised move that happens so fast Dan barely registers the danger she was in. 

“It’s time for bed,” Dan says to her fucking Foxes. “Or Allison will put you there.”

There’s a nasty sneer on a few of their faces and shit Dan knows what they’re going to say next. She set them up for the slutshaming like she wants it to happen.

Seth breaks through the crowd of Foxes, staggering them. He makes a disgusted noise and says, “if y’all want anymore of my weed then you better shut the fuck up before the RA is called.”

Dan couldn’t have cleared the room better herself. Part of her mourns and chafes that she wasn’t the one to do it, but the smarter part of her knows it’s easier to rule the game when you’re playing it. She doesn’t have anything they want.

To make sure this thing is really over she watches the original Foxes walk back to their dorms. They’re shoulder to shoulder and bristling with anger. There isn’t a single one of them that she trusts, but then when has she ever trusted a teammate?

Seth shifts on his feet, glancing at Allison. Dan doesn’t give him, or her, a chance to start fighting. She’s got that covered. “What the fuck was that about?”

The glazed look in his eyes is more pronounced than ever with his mouth hanging open in thought. “Someone… took something from someone, I don’t fucking know.”

“Useful,” Allison says. 

He starts like a misfired gun. “Yeah like you injuring our teammates is _helpful_.”

“As if you care,” she says, derisive. “As if you haven’t done the same.”

“Oh quit it, would you?” Dan presses her palms against her eyes. “I was serious about it being bedtime.”

Seth scoffs and looks away. Allison is watching him and Renee is watching her. 

“You…” Seth purses his lips and looks at Allison with his chin tilted down. “Wanna get out of here?”

Allison looks him up and down. Seth clenches his hands into fists, but holds off. There isn’t a single person in the hallway that believes Allison means the action.

She shrugs in a way that makes her muscular shoulders look delicate. “Sure.”

Seth grins, a bounce in his step. “I just gotta get my shit.”

The door closes behind him and silence falls over them once again. Dan gives Allison a hard look. She can’t wait for the day Allison tires of the party life. “Be fucking safe.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Allison says, tart.

Dan shakes her head and leaves Renee to impart some final sage advice.

* * *

Dan’s in her pyjamas, toothbrush foaming between her teeth, and she can’t stop staring at the tube of pink lip gloss on the sink. 

One day in junior year the West Jackson Wolves come to play Dan’s Bears and she’s there, standing in goal. 

Dan doesn’t know her as a person yet, she’s a number - 16 - and an obstacle. An anomaly that needs to be watched. She’s _good_ , Dan barely scores on her the first time and then they don’t again for the rest of the game. She’s an anomaly that needs to be fucking _watched_.

The match ends in a tie and the fierce rivalry that exists between their schools flares. A fight breaks out in the parking lot afterwards. It usually does, but this feels different. Dan wades in and breaks it up, anger hot in her heart. It’s difficult not to feel like she’s wasting her time. 

She reads the paper first chance she gets and learns the goalie’s name: Walker.

Somehow they go from that to teammates. She remembers Wymack saying he came to watch Renee play and then Dan caught his eye. Their lives are so horribly intertwined and there’s no end in sight. 

Why the fuck did she think them fucking was a good idea? If all goes well they have five more years together.

There’s no romance in this. No crush. It’s more than lust and less than friendship. Her rush of feelings are a mix of pure attraction, a sour antipathy, and a begrudging admiration. And that's it, isn’t it? 

She’s drawn to Renee. 

She recognises her fight in another. The drive that she carries and controls is borne of the same struggle for progress. They’re both deadset on winning this year’s championship and riding the wave that follows. It’d be a game changer.

There’s a polite knock on the door frame. Dan spits her mouthful of toothpaste and hurries to wipe the excess from her face. “Yeah?”

“You mind if I take a shower?”

“Nah, I’m almost done.”

Renee smiles. “No rush.”

Dan finishes cleaning her teeth while Renee is getting ready. She takes out the communal face wipes that Allison has foisted on them as “the best makeup removers you bitches will ever come across, not sponsored”.

She drags the damp material across her eyes and doesn’t react when she hears the shower curtain pull.

It isn’t difficult to slow and quiet her movements down to listen for Renee. 

Something hits the floor, a soft sound. A zip follows. Renee’s silk skirt had fit so tight and neat around her waist it must have had a zipper in the back. The skirt had flared prettily as she walked, every step billowing. She’d tucked her cotton tank into the waistband like those two pieces would work together and somehow they had. The neckline had been high, had done nothing to hide her broad shoulders and thick biceps. 

The shower curtain pulls closed. 

Dan’s hand falls from her face and she grimaces at her reflection. What the fuck are they doing? Renee is maybe a virgin. Sure she’s never showered while Dan is in the bathroom before, but that doesn’t mean this out of sight strip show _means_ anything.

The sound of running water comes next and Dan wipes off her makeup methodically. The spot of pink lip gloss is the last to go. Her heart beats heavy in her chest all the while. Renee is naked and inches from her. The tall, tight college room stall conjures dark alcoves in her mind. With the shitty lighting overhead, it’s easy to imagine them pressed together and shrouded in darkness. Their movements as sleek and fluid as water. 

Dan swallows and ducks her head to splash water on her face. If she were in the shower she’d be tilting her head up and back, stretching herself out. Renee watching her every gesture. The chill of water is at once refreshing and jarring.

“What was with that move of yours?” she asks to distract herself. “The way you bent that asshole’s arm?”

“It’s a simple self-defence move.” Renee’s voice is a little muffled. A splash of water follows. “I put more power behind it than I should have.”

Dan clicks her tongue. “What’re you apologising for? I would have gotten hit otherwise.”

“I’m glad then.”

Dan runs her hands up and down her arms. “You’re lucky he didn’t hit you back.” She’s not sure what she’d do if someone from her team hit Renee. Beyond telling Wymack, that is. Nothing outwardly, but inwardly, she hates to think what that might make her feel.

“No,” Renee says, “I can take care of myself.”

“Of course you can,” she teases, “you know self defence.”

“Do you?”

“Nah, but I can throw a punch. That does the job.”

Renee sounds like she’s smiling. “I remember.” Right, Renee had come to her school after they got signed on to be Foxes and Dan had had to fight her own schoolmates to get Renee out safely. That was probably one of the first times they’d ever worked together. 

“You like that?” Dan dares. She puts a hand to her face, cringing. “You like girls who can hold their own?”

Renee’s shower cuts off and Dan straightens like a bungee cord snapping tight. She stares at herself in the mirror and doesn’t dare look over her own shoulder in the reflection. God, this is fucking hot.

A silhouette steps from the shower. She’s not looking but she can still see out the corner of her eye. The outline of a shoulder. A spray of colourful hair.

Dan freezes and then looks busy.

“Are you done?” Renee asks.

“Almost.” 

“I can wait.”

Dan licks her lips. “Yeah.” She’s well within her rights to look at Renee standing in a towel. It’s a normal roommate thing. Plus she saw Dan’s tits less than an hour ago. They’ve pawed at one another for fucks sake, this shouldn’t feel more. Intimate.

The curtain slides slowly closed, the hooks of it clinking quietly in the cavernous room. Each tick of noise feels like an age. 

She can’t not look.

Renee stands, framed by the open doorway behind her. She’s in her pink towel, barefoot and damp. It makes Dan aware that she’s in mismatched pyjamas, the kind that are old and maybe a little too small. The colours of Renee’s hair are dark with water; her eyelashes too, clumped and clinging together.

“It’s probably just us tonight,” she blurts.

Renee takes a step forward, off the floor mat. Water slips down her skin and drips on the floor. “I was thinking the same thing.”

“We rushed into things earlier.”

Renee pauses. “Yes. That’s why I stopped.”

Excitement thrills through her. “You’ve always got a shutout for me, huh?”

A wicked grin curves Renee’s lips. 

“You know it.”

Dan’s got bedroom eyes going on, she knows it. Arousal eases thick and sweet through her body until she feels it like a guiding force in the tips of her fingers. 

“Where do you want to do this?” Dan drops her sleep shorts so her much prettier panties are on show and curls her fingers into the bottom of her shirt. “We’ve got beds galore.

“Or,” Dan says, stepping in close enough to feel the cool heat coming off of Renee, “you could push me up against the wall again. I think you like that.”

“I do like that,” Renee murmurs. She put her fingers to Dan’s cheek, stroking and sliding down until she cups her chin. Dan makes it easy for her, tilts and gives in the direction Renee wants. She wants it too.

For a beat, two, they linger like that. Renee’s eyes are on her mouth, hooded and dark. There’s a redness in her cheeks that the cool shower water couldn’t soothe. 

Dan pouts her lips pointedly and Renee smiles. They ease back against the wall as one. Everything is damp and slippery from Renee’s skin to her towel to the cheap wall covered in condensation. She skids a little on the wet floor, bumping into place and Renee steadies her. Her hands sit at Dan’s shoulders and then skim down her arms, achingly slow. She loops her fingers gently around Dan’s wrists and tugs them to her waist, before cupping her face in her hands. 

“If you hadn’t latched onto the idea that we were rivals the moment you saw me,” Renee says, “I would have done this much sooner.”

Dan swallows. That’s hot, but where’s this going?

“And as nice a thought as that is, I doubt I would have had half as much fun if I hadn’t met my match in you.”

Her tone sends a shiver running over Dan’s skin. Her self-doubt speaks before she can stop it: “I never score on you.” 

Renee smiles gently, almost amused. “And doesn’t that just make you test me in every other way you can.”

Dan laughs, low and rough. “Fuck, Renee, show me what you got.”

When she kisses Dan, it tastes triumphant. 

Heat thrums through her, makes her flush hot, despite the cool water drying between their skin. Hands spill, fingers reaching, clenching, searching. Dan arches her back and Renee surges closer, forcing her flat against the wall. With an eagerness that is nearly beyond her control she parts her legs and finds herself caught by Renee’s towel, it’s tucked frustratingly tight at her thighs. It stretches about them, near soaking and taunt. Renee didn’t even attempt to dry herself. She’s gorgeously eager for this. 

Dan rubs her hand up and down Renee’s thigh. “I want you, here, between my legs. Let me move the towel.”

Renee doesn’t let her do anything, she _obliges_. She tugs her towel up, sliding it until it's so short on her it gives the illusion that there’s something to be seen. The high wrap leaves her thick thighs on show.

With a hand pressed to the wall beside Dan’s head, Renee resettles, sliding her thigh between Dan’s legs until they can feel the heat of one another. Dan drops her head back, hazy with the pressure and grinds down, seeking more.

Renee makes a pleased noise and curls in tighter.

Dan grasps her hips and rides her.

She fits so sweetly between her legs, the thick muscle of her strong thighs is a delight to rock against. Her breath turns to sharp pants in moments. An ache builds, one that has her shivering and shaking with each roll of her hips. She’s wanted this for far too long.

“Don’t move,” she manages, “don’t move.”

Renee kisses Dan’s throat, her mouth wet and wanting. “God forgive me, I want this as much as you do.”

She can’t help but groan at that, frustration behind the sound. She does, she does want this. And she hadn’t thought her underwear could get any wetter, but hearing Renee say she wants this too makes her spark down low. 

Dan buries her face in Renee’s neck and takes a hold of her ass. The new angle, this leverage, the intense pressure has her whining. 

“That’s it,” Renee murmurs. She kneads her fingers into the back of Dan’s neck and the hot pressure runs right through her body like a live wire. 

“Renee,” she pants, “you aren’t touching me nearly enough.” The roll of her hips is no longer appropriate for a dance floor. Her movements have turned slick with the rising tension and fast with her fevered search for friction. The press of Renee’s thigh and the rough shift of her panties against her clit, sliding over and over, is maddening. 

Renee slides her hand up Dan’s waist and stops at her rib-cage. Her thumb brushes the underside of Dan’s breast, the touch so gentle it nearly tickles. She arcs in the touch, wanting more. Renee’s touch is as feather-light as the kisses she places along Dan’s jaw. The rough grind of her hips combined with the softest of touches makes for a myriad of sensations that she struggles to contain. Her eyes are squeezed shut, have been for longer than she knows, and her thighs are shaking as she nears the edge.

She makes a noise, low in her throat, desperate. “Come on.” 

Renee closes her fingers around Dan’s nipple and the sharp pull undoes her. She stiffens against Renee, her hips butting lightly against Renee's thigh as she rides the orgasm. The feeling bursts through her like she’s awoken to find herself fallen asleep under the sun, hot and blinding in it’s brightness.

Renee holds her as she calms down. Holds her as she shakes and pants. She wraps her arms tight around Renee and buries her face in her neck. The slow drag of her hands up and down Dan’s sides is settling.

“You with me?” Renee murmurs in her ear. 

“Fuck,” she breathes. Is she? After that? “Yeah, uh, yeah.” A grin slowly takes over her face. That’s what she’s been talking about. That’s what they should have been doing this whole time. She shifts Renee back from her and takes the curious mouth that turns her way with her own eager pair of lips. 

It’s easy to cup the back of Renee’s skull, tilt her head this way and that, stroke her tongue against the roof of her mouth and get caught up in the moment.

She feels thoroughly satisfied. The ache between her legs has turned to a slow steady beat of her pulse.

“ _Renee_ ,” Dan says, flying high, “that was fucking _good._ ”

An intrigued smile takes Renee’s mouth and her head ducks. The motion doesn’t hide her, not with how they’re still leant up against one another. “I’m surprised how much I enjoyed that. I liked…”

Dan gets a firm grip on Renee’s hips. “Tell me.”

“I liked doing that for you. Holding you and making it easy for you to…” 

Dan bumps her forehead against Renee’s. “You were great.”

“Okay,” she says quietly, pleased. She kisses Dan just as quietly, just as pleased. 

They pull away, syrupy-slow, and Dan lifts her heavy lids. “Can I finger you?”

Renee’s eyes go wide and then turn narrow back down with thought. Dan gives her something to consider. Their teeth clink together from the force of it and she’s quick to roll her tongue into Renee’s mouth. She’s met with a sharp tongue and kiss warmed lips. 

“The bed,” Renee says against Dan’s mouth. 

They stumble through the dorm, hands clinging and grasping. Somehow, despite the tight grip Renee has on her, Dan manages to shuck her shirt off in the process. Renee’s eyes widen at the sight of her bare breasts. Dan laughs, she can have fun with that. Gently, she pushes Renee onto the bed and straddles her. It’s easy to guide her hands _low_ at her waist and capture her lips. 

Somehow Renee’s towel is still firmly in place and Dan can’t let that stand.

She gives it a tug to the top, her knuckles brushing Renee’s breasts. “Would you take this off for me?”

Renee nods carefully and sits up. Dan stays perched on Renee’s rocking thighs. There’s a pause while Dan waits for Renee to strip off and she doesn’t. 

“Do you want me to take it off on you?”

“Yes,” Renee says, “slowly.”

Dan kisses under her jaw, nudging her head up. “I’m real good at slow.”

A breath. “Yeah?” 

Dan hums and moves onto her hands and knees over Renee. “Watch me.” She moves her shoulder in imitation of a big cat stalking and she knows it does fantastic things to her tits. Renee clutches at the bed-sheets like _that’s_ what she should be dedicating her hands to right now. Dan tucks her fingers into the top of Renee’s towel and gives it a firm tug. It doesn’t go anywhere, like she knew it wouldn’t. Instead the tight tuck jerks Renee toward her incrementally and she feels Renee’s breath catch.

With a slow grin, Dan reaches back, hooks her panties in hand, and slides them off.

Renee stares at her, a dark wanting look in her eye, and then she’s looking at what Dan bets is the door.

She slumps down on top of her, twisting at the waist to see the closed door. “Allison’s not coming back right?”

“No,” Renee says quietly, “Allison and Seth are making something of themselves.”

“What? Like a relationship? I thought they were just fucking.”

Renee puts a hand to her chest, holding the towel in place. “I’m sure they’re doing plenty of that too.”

Dan doesn’t know what to say to that. She knows Renee is carrying some sort of torch for Allison, she’d thought it was a small one. Before. She suddenly feels like a consolation prize. That’s nothing new, so she asks: “You good?” anyway.

Renee nods, gathering herself. “Of course.”

Dan can’t help herself. “Mmm of course.”

Renee smiles at her and then her eyes flick down and bounce all over Dan’s body before landing, politely on her face once more. A heavy blush turns Renee’s cheeks a beautiful shade of shy. 

“I’m sorry, I’m being rude,” Renee says. She puts her hands behind Dan’s knees and pulls her forward until they’re flush.

Dan shrugs. “Yeah, but it’s hard being gay, bi, whatever. There’s always something to overthink.”

Renee tucks her face into the bend of Dan’s neck and breathes. “Isn’t there?”

What Dan should really do is arch her back and offer her tits up to Renee like they both fucking want, but goddamn she’s never had Renee so complacent. “Since you've already ruined the mood…”

Dan thinks if Renee wasn’t pressed as close as she could get then she wouldn’t have noticed that Renee laughed just then. The silent, burst of air too subtle, so ladylike. “What do you want to know?”

“Does your— Does Stephanie know?”

Renee nods, delicately. “I told her I was a lesbian when she said she wanted to adopt me. It was all too good to be true, you know? Me being Thai and her being Thai. I wasn’t going to waste either of our time.”

“That’s brave,” she says, too honest, and then feels the need to recover. “Nearly as brave as that hair of yours.”

Renee touches her rainbow, self-conscious. “I’ve always wanted to dye my hair. I never had the opportunity before. It was better if I laid low when I was younger so I couldn’t be as…loud…as I wanted.”

“ _Loud_.” Dan grins. “You’re a walking, talking political statement.”

“I’m not trying to be,” Renee says. “I’m just trying to make it clear that I would very much like to fuck a girl.” Her gaze is pointed, amused.

Dan puts an excited look on her face, like this news to her. “Really? What girl?”

Renee takes a breath and then puts the meat of her palm against Dan’s shoulder and guides her down. Guides her right back until she lays reclined on the bed and Renee is leaning over her. Her gaze is still shy. Dan _is_ extremely naked right now.

“I'm serious, who is it?” She clutches at Renee’s waist as she climbs on top of her. The towel falls open and Dan is ready to let this comedy bit go. Renee’s weight settles and Dan relaxes into the bed. Nearly ready. “Anyone I know?”

Renee kisses her with lips struggling against a broad smile. Dan can’t help but laugh. She doesn’t get to fool around like this with many people. With her stage sisters she can be silly and act her age, but she’s been away from them for months now. It feels good to relax around someone.

Even if that someone slips into the threat category far too easily.

She curls her hands into Renee’s silky hair as their lips slide together and tugs her into a more comfortable position. Their bodies curve and tangle, entwining as much as humanly possible, while slick and tentative. 

They kiss until Renee is gasping. She tips her head up and breathes heavily, a hand pressed to her brow.

Dan presses her mouth along Renee’s jaw sloppily and shudders. Buries her nose in the crook of Renee's neck and closes her eyes. They’re just getting started. Their breasts press, their hips aligned, their legs lock at the calves and ankles. Dan closes her eyes and just feels it for a second. 

She drags her lips along Renee's shoulder and licks at her collarbone until she hears her catch of breath. Dan opens her eyes and finds Renee’s chucked the towel aside completely. 

She flushes hot. They’re naked in bed together. She runs her hands up Renee’s sides and says, “ _Hi_.”

Renee sits up and leans back on her hands. Her hair is awry, roughed up like a room that's been rifled through. The pace her chest lifts and falls is faster than normal. “You were going to…”

Dan wiggles out from under her, grinning. “Yeah?”

“You mentioned before…”

She herds Renee back against the pillows. “Did I?”

Renee’s hands close over her hips and tugs her closer. She breathes hot heavy air against Dan’s neck, sending goosebumps racing. The tips of her fingers stroke over Dan’s waist, trailing delicately. Suggestively.

Renee presses her mouth in a firm, chaste, kiss to her shoulder. “Stop playing with me. Please.”

She pulls away to look at Renee’s face, but that’s not happening apparently. She’s left looking at the underside of Renee’s chin and the long, elegant line of her neck. Dan kisses the hollow of her throat and drags her lips up up up until Renee tilts her chin back down. There’s a slight frown on her face, but she knows how to get rid of that. Dan makes a pleased noise - because she is pleased and wants Renee to know - and kisses the corner of Renee’s mouth. Kisses her properly next, quick and chaste. Then again and again until Renee’s lips pout in response. 

“I’m going to finger you, yeah?”

A twitch of interest hits Renee’s hands and Dan pushes herself forward until Renee is taking all her weight. They’re so close to being back on track.

She curls her arms around Renee’s neck and snuggles in close. Her teeth close around Renee’s earlobe and the bite sends a shiver through Renee’s body. “You know what you're doing?”

Renee huffs. “No.”

Her fingers stoke slowly over Dan’s tits and she sighs, buries her face in Renee’s neck. Each pass of her fingers, close to her nipples, but not quite, stirs interest much lower. “You’re doing great.”

Dan shifts her weight and slides between Renee’s legs. Her eyes are a dark shade of brown, pretty as the earth is rich. 

Dan kisses her, leisurely and thorough. “Slow, right?” she breathes into the space between their mouths. Renee nods and spreads her legs. “We should probably warm you up a bit more, but uh—” Dan is immediately met with wet curls. Her eyes widen. 

“Dan,” Renee says, voice controlled, “I don’t care what you do, just do something.”

Dan swipes her thumb over the curve of muscle between Renee’s belly button and the place Dan’s fingers ache for. “You got it.”

Renee curves her arms around Dan’s neck and tilts her hips forward. It’s far too easy to slide a finger, then two, inside of her. Renee’s head falls back and Dan’s falls forwards. She sets her feet, tenses her arm, and sets about rocking Renee’s world.

Dan sinks her fingers into Renee over and over until she’s squirming. There’s no mask on Renee’s face now, nowhere to hide. Desire shines plain as day on her face. 

She breathes out a moan, her mouth so wide Dan can see her tongue. She kisses Renee’s cheek, her collarbone, and sucks gently at her nipple. Renee arches up beneath her, driving her fingers deeper inside. The feel of her wrapped tight around Dan is intoxicating. She mounds Renee’s breast in her hand and sucks her down. A loud, surprised sound rips from Renee and her hands scrabble at Dan’s back. 

She twists and curls her fingers inside Renee, coaxing her closer and closer to where she wants her. 

“Dan,” Renee breathes, shuddering. She throws her legs out wider, wrapping one around Dan’s waist. It changes the angle beautifully. Renee clenches her fingers down tight on Dan’s shoulder and whimpers. 

There’s a certain lack of control that’s been let go here and neither of them are complaining. It makes it easy for Dan to tip forward until her chin is resting on Renee’s sternum and watch the show. Watch the way Renee’s head whips from side to side, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. 

Dan places her thumb gently below Renee’s clit and rubs up in a long clean line. Her eyes snap open and meet Dan’s with a bright, feverish light. She grins and does it again. Renee moans, her body curving into Dan gratefully. 

She circles the tip of one finger around Renee’s nipple and says, “You good?”

Renee sharply kicks one of her legs like her frustration had to escape her somehow. “What happened to you wanting to eat me out?”

“What’s that?” Dan says, pumping her fingers harder. “This isn’t enough for you?”

“You’re so fucking annoying,” Renee mutters. 

Dan is so delighted to have gotten a genuine, bald complaint out of sweet, perfect Renee that she _has_ to reward her efforts. “You asked for it.” She wiggles down the bed and spreads her fingers inside Renee, opening her up. Her tongue is out and curling long before Dan has her face buried where they both want her. 

Renee jerks as Dan drags her tongue in and out of her. Up over her clit and then sucking mercifully as she fucks her with her fingers. Dan moans as Renee’s wet heat warms her face. At this rate she’ll be ready to go again soon.

There’s a light touch at the back of her head and then Renee cups her close. She doesn’t push or pull, she simply holds Dan steady. The sure touch opens Dan’s eyes as she licks into her. Renee’s chest swells as she pants, her stomach tight with muscle and tension. Every part of her is compact and built for movement. Dan’s going to make her _writhe_. 

Renee meets every thrust of her hand with a tight buck of her hips and a quiet noise of pleasure. Dan tucks her fingers in and curls them upward inside Renee, pumping them vigorously. Her legs tense in response and she pushes up the bed away from Dan. Before she can call her back, Renee is shoving back down eagerly onto Dan’s face. 

“Easy,” Dan murmurs. She’s smiling, smug, when Renee looks at her blearily. 

Her lips curl, incensed. “Finish it.”

Just this once, she’ll do as Renee asks. She closes her eyes and relaxes into the embrace of Renee’s thighs. Dan hums against her and sucks deep, her tongue flicking over Renee’s clit. She keeps her fingers thrusting steadily, pushing Renee higher and higher. 

Renee moans deeply and presses her hips against Dan’s face until she can’t breathe. She’s close enough, quivering enough, that Dan doubles down and holds out.

“Oh,” Renee says loudly, “oh.” With a body roll as beautiful as ocean waves crashing upon the shore, Renee comes. Dan stays, kissing her sweetly, until Renee stops quaking and waves her off.

Dan sits, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth, and watches Renee’s toes curl as satisfaction fills her.

“Do you cuddle?”

Dan raises her eyebrows in surprise. Renee might be as naked as the day she was born, wet all down her open thighs, and reclined in Dan’s bed, but she’s never looked more standoffish. She wants to say: for _you?_ Except that’s what Renee is expecting and no one likes to be taunted after an orgasm. 

So she crawls up the bed and settles in at Renee’s side. They don’t cuddle, not really. They lay touching at the shoulders, their knees pointed in toward one another. Dan pushes up and rests her head on her hand. Renee’s face was just a little too close for a second there.

Her stage sisters taught her that sex partners who you aren’t committing to fall into one of two categories. The first is friendship, where you’re safe to be yourself and explore. The second is a one night stand, where you’re free to hit and run. Both types are a one off, but the difference is how you act after all the fun is done. Renee, unfortunately, is neither. And that leaves Dan at a loss on how to act. 

She sighs dramatically. “Do you think it’ll ever be easy between us?”

The awkward air dispels when Renee smiles. “Yes.”

That’s enough to make her blink. “Really?”

Renee nods up at her, quiet and sure.

“Huh.” That’s weird and seems baseless, but then Renee is nothing without her faith. She drags the covers out from under them and tucks them in. “Okay.” 

Between one moment and the next, Dan dozes off. It’s been a long day, a long week, and they have practise tomorrow. She’s floating in that strange place where thoughts become senseless like dreams when she feels the bed move.

She jerks up onto her elbows and that makes Renee smile. Dan runs a hand through her hair, embarrassed, and lays back down. “You off?”

Renee licks her lips. “I’m going to shower again.”

“Cool.”

“And get ready for bed.”

“Yeah.”

She hesitates. “I need you to answer me something. It’s important.”

Dan takes a breath. They need this. “Yeah, okay.” 

“Are you still mad that we ended up on the same team? Or that my team beat yours?”

Dan smiles, fond. “Nah, I—”

Renee waits, patient as ever. 

The truth is something she’s been missing for a long time. It’s been tangled up in the way Dan feels like she has to fight for everything so thoroughly that she never had a chance to linger on the thought. “We aren’t on opposing teams anymore. It doesn’t make sense to keep fighting. I can’t say I like you, not really, not yet.” She shrugs, trying to look cool and confident. “We’re better together than we ever were apart.”

The edge softens right out of Renee’s shoulders. She looks lighter, brighter. Renee gives her fingers a squeeze and says, “Thank you”. She leaves the bathroom door ajar.

Dan slumps further into her bed. She rubs a hand over her face and ends up covering a smile. _Fuck_ what everyone else says, she’s great at diplomacy. If they ever have sex again she’s going to goad Renee into calling her Captain while they get it on. 

**Author's Note:**

> what's that quote of Nora's about the girls realising they're no longer playing at being friends for the media but have become besties?? i could CRY
> 
> leave a comment if you liked it! i'd love to hear your thoughts


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